Quaternary ammonium salts such as N,N-di(tallowoyl-oxy-ethyl)-N,N,-dimethylammonium chloride and 1,2 ditallowyl oxy-3-trimethylammino propane chloride have been developed as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,137,180; 4,767,547 and 4,789,491.
Because of softening properties and ease of processing, a preferred biodegradable quaternary ammonium salt is a diester compound of the formula described in Column 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,180.
It has been discovered, however, that many of the diester compounds described above degrade to a monoester form which in certain levels can be aquatically toxic. Moreover, when the diester compounds are processed with relatively large quantities of alcohol the obtained compounds are more likely to form monoester degradation intermediates.
Therefore, there is a need for novel molecules which are both effective fabric conditioners and which are biodegradable.
There is further a need for a fabric conditioning molecule which is formed from compounds having a natural rather than a synthetic source.